


Navigating Gypsy

by Tw1nRabb1t



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Cliche, Dancing, F/M, Family, Friendship, Guilt, Gypsy, Illness, Lucy leaves story, Romance, Training, tribes, written before recent updates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-11
Updated: 2015-05-12
Packaged: 2018-03-10 05:58:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3279332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tw1nRabb1t/pseuds/Tw1nRabb1t
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Natsu swore to himself that if he ever found Ultear, or any other mage whose magic dealt with the flow of time, he would beat them up, go back in time, and pound some sense into his past self for being such an idiot...moderate foul language.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, this was written before the recent happenings in the manga, so apparently the dragons weren't inside the Slayers and the Tartaros arc ended differently. Also, please note that I am moving this from my fanfiction.net account, so I'm still learning this site. And I am aware that this troupe is over used. I do not particularlly care. And just a head's up, but I prefer longer chapters, so these will be quite lengthy at times, and also make gap between updates rather long at times.

### Chapter 1

###  **A star's mercy mission.**

Lucy sat in the masters' office, a distant look in her eyes as she absently wondered why he called her in here. She hadn't done anything wrong - hadn't destroyed any buildings, hadn't pissed off anyone from the magic council, the two biggest taboos in her guild, yet the most frequently broken. And she had plans to take another job, since it wasn't like she could count on her team to help her out anymore.

The look in her eyes moved farther away, and any emotion on her face blanked. Her knuckles whitened as she tightly gripped the hem of her skirt, quiet tears falling from her eyes as her expression did not change.

All those times Natsu had snuck into her apartment, all those times he had rushed after her on the battlefield, and all those times he had boldly declared her as his nakama, were little more than fond memories now.

He and the others had dropped her for Lisanna, going on a month-and-a-half-long mission, and all anyone at the Guild would talk about was either about how it was about time those two took a mission together, or how they kicked Tartaros's asses, or that they couldn't believe it would be another year-and-a-half until the next Grand Magic Games, due to extensive damages, all of which got very old (and painful) very fast.

Not that anyone besides a handful of people, most of whom were out on missions on a daily basis (Levy, Wendy), or busy with something important (Mira, Cana, Juvia...even though the latter two could be debated) talked to her anymore. It didn't help either that Levy had finally gotten Gajeel to notice how she felt, and they had now formed their own team with Lily.

Don't get her wrong; Lucy was ecstatic for her friend, but she couldn't help but wish that her and Natsu were in the same position. Instead though, the way things were going, it looked like he might have something happening with the youngest Strauss.

That thought made Lucy's heart physically _hurt_ , and caused the tears run down her cheeks thicker and faster than before, her body trembling as she fought to keep herself under control. She had noticed it a while ago - a long, long while ago - but it was something she constantly pushed down, built up until she couldn't keep it in anymore and it all just boiled over with her tears.

She loved _him_ , the idiotic pink-haired dragon slayer that saved her more way times from way more dangers than she could even care to count.

_She_ loved him, the happy knucklehead who found her in Hargeon when looking for his missing father, and gave her, the lonely runaway, a home. Friends. Family. _Nakama_.

She _loved_ him, the clueless dummy who didn't know about her feelings, the one she could not bring herself to hate for abandoning her to go on a quest with another girl 'for old time's sake'.

"Here," a soft voice in front of her said, and Lucy shifted her eyes to see Mavis Vermillion, her guild's first master, handing her a tissue. She hesitantly accepted, first wiping the tears from her eyes and then blowing her nose. Mavis smiled lightly, and Lucy felt her mood lift a bit. "That's better, isn't it?"

Lucy nodded, a small motion, and Mavis gazed sadly from her to the other wizard sitting behind the desk. She and Makarov were worried; everyone in the guild had left Lucy, and they weren't sure why. But they did know this - Lucy had already lost everything once; if it happened again, there was a chance she wouldn't be able to come back from it.

The masters couldn't just tell people to start paying attention to the blonde again, as sad as it was; that wouldn't end well, no matter how they went about it. Best either could figure, it would be a good idea to have Lucy out of the Guild until this blew over, as it was a simpler solution than telling the whole guild to take a vacation.

But first they wanted to make sure she was okay.

"Lucy," Makarov started softly, directing a pair of glazed cocoa eyes to him. "Do you know why I called you here?"

The Celestial Spirit summoner shook her head, causing her blonde locks to swish gracefully around her shoulders. "I don't know, but I can't think of any reason I would be in trouble, master."

The old man felt the corners of his mouth tilt ever slightly. She was one of the more responsible members of his family, after all. "You aren't in trouble, so don't worry about that,"

Lucy's face showed her confusion. "Then why am I here?"

She hadn't been expecting both him and Mavis, who was sitting on the edge of the desk, to bow their heads and hunch their shoulders to her as a sign of apology. "I'm apologizing for the inconsiderate ways in which my other children have been acting in your regard, Lucy." Makarov stated, raising his head again to meet her surprised eyes.

"But we're even sorrier that we can't just tell them to pay attention to you again," Mavis continued, a sad pout on her face and a guilty look in her eyes. "It would be overstepping our boundaries as master,"

Lucy didn't know what to say to that, but she could feel her heart swell with gratitude, and the relief that came with it brought new tears to her eyes, and made her glad she was already sitting, because her knees had sudden gone to jelly. She hiccuped, her marked hand shooting to cover her mouth. "T-thank you, Master, Mavis..."

That little sentence opened the floodgates, and the two masters of Fairy Tail moved from where they sat to wrap the sobbing blonde Mage in a hug, just letting her grab onto their presence as a way to assure her they were there.

A good ten minutes later, Lucy's desperate crying had been reduced to quiet random sniffles as she made her way through the box of tissues Mavis had handed to her; she was not a clean cryer, after all.

As soon as she had fully stopped crying, she could feel Master and Mavis pull back, allowing her to see that they weren't the only ones who had sought to comfort her. Standing behind her masters, was Loke, Capricorn, and Virgo, who was holding what looked to Lucy like several 'Get well soon' cards.

"Hime, it would be better not to cry again," Virgo stated, noticing her masters' eyes filling up for a third time. "Aquarius seemed rather annoyed by your tears, and informed me to punish you if you did not stop,"

"H-hey, Virgo," Loke sweatdropped. He might need to teach his surrogate sister a better way to comfort people. That wasn't the kind of thing you said to a depressed person, no matter how well you knew them, or what someone else said.

It turns out he didn't have to worry though; a beat after Virgo finished talking, Lucy burst out in laughter, her features visibly lightening and the tension fleeing the room.

"I see," the blonde stated, smearing the tear trails on her cheek. "Tell her I'm sorry for making all of you guys worry about me,"

"It's quite alright, Lucy-sama." Capricorn stated, giving Lucy a comforting smile. "We are your Spirits; it is our job, and our honor to protect and make sure that you are okay,"

Loke smirked, gazing down fondly at his key holder. "Couldn't have said it better myself, Lucy. And you know that if you ever need a shoulder to cry on, just say my name, any of our names really, and we'll be there to help you."

Mavis giggled from her spot on Makarov's desk (how Lucy didn't notice either master moving right in front of her was beyond her), bringing the eyes of three spirits and their owner to her. "Isn't it nice to know people care, Lucy?"

The blonde thought for a moment, her mind taking her back to the actions of her guild mates, before nodding her head. "Yeah...it is,"

"Hime, I am sure that everyone still cares," Virgo stated, and Loke dearly hoped she wasn't as blunt as earlier. "They're just letting all they've done in the past few years finally sink in, and they have become so lost in their own thoughts that are acting out of character,"

"What was it you said earlier, Leo?" Mavis asked, a smirk on her lips as she looked between the maid spirit and her summoner. "I couldn't have said it better myself."

Loke snorted, but as the hope in Lucy's eyes reappeared for the first time in days (since Team Natsu talked to her again, only to see if she would let them go on that mission with Lisanna), Loke he couldn't help but help push her on, to get the old her back. "Our guild isn't exactly known for their thinking prowess, Lucy. It's probably going to take forever before they their heads out of their asses, especially that dragon slayer you're so fond of,"

Lucy flushed a bright pink, the color of Natsu's hair, causing a round of chuckles to go through the room. Grumbling under her breath, Lucy took the cards from Virgo, once again thanking her spirits before they went back to the Spirit world, their self-appointed task complete.

As Lucy was about to open the first card on top, which looked to be the one from the aggressive mermaid spirit, Master Makarov cleared his throat. Placing the stack to the side, Lucy promised herself she would read them later.

"Feeling better child?" He asked, already knowing the answer by the refreshed look in her eyes, and the added color to her completion, but he wanted to hear it himself.

"Yes, very. Thank you, though. You and Mavis didn't have to do that,"

"We felt that an intervention was necessary, and I think we made the right choice," he smiled, but all too soon a serious look came over his face, and Lucy felt traces of dread pooling in the pit of her stomach.

"Why do you look so serious, master? I thought you said I wasn't in trouble,"

"You're not; but there is something we still have to ask you."

Lucy looked suspiciously between the two wizards before her. "And that is...?"

"We would like to know if you wanted to take a break from Fairy Tail for a while, just until you felt truly ready to come back," Mavis stated, and Lucy could say she was a bit blindsided.

Leave Fairy Tail? Why on Earthland would she do that? Her home was here, it was full of her cherished memories, and all her Nakama were here as well! If she just up and left...they wouldn't know she was gone until someone remembered to look for her, a small voice spoke from the back of her head. Shocked, Lucy realized what that fully meant; she would be surrounded by all of her precious people, but they wouldn't acknowledgelookforcarefor her for an unknown amount of time, possibly months.

Master and Mavis were giving her three choices.

One, leave now, when she had forgiven her guild and all her emotions were sorted out, making it easier on her friends later on.

Two, leave later, when she felt depressed again as she went on like a ghost in the background, actively trying to sever the ties she had to the cause of her pain.

Or three, stay, and hope that when her friends and fellow guild mates remembered she was in their lives that they could pull her out of whatever hole she would have undoubtedly dug herself into.

It wasn't that hard of a choice. Lucy loved her friends above all else, after all.

"...what would I do while I was gone, though? I don't have the money to put my apartment on hold for long, plus, where would I go?" Lucy asked, weighing her options.

"You could train, expand upon your knowledge and abilities," Mavis offered, before Makarov continued. "I have a few favors I can call in to get you a place to stay, and while you're gone I can send you jobs for money,"

The blonde mulled it over in her head for a second, before nodding. "When would I leave?"

"As soon as I can get the paperwork done and a letter sent, if you want," the short master offered before reaching behind his desk for the needed documents when Lucy muttered 'yes, please.'

"I have a general idea of where he's sending you, so I'll write down the address and the trains you'll need to get there," the young first master chirped, taking a scrap piece of paper and humming as she scribbled something down before holding it out to Lucy.

Lucy took it, noting that she would be taking three separate trains, her final destination being the capital city of Fiore, Crocus. Which, despite her ire at the multiple train switches, confused her.

"I thought the city was destroyed by those dragons?" Lucy asked, looking back at the one who gave her the paper.

"Most of it was, but that doesn't mean that there aren't places to stay," Mavis stated simply.

"I guess you're right... Hey Mavis? What did you mean by expanding upon my knowledge of Celestial magic? I thought that there was only Spirit Summoning, the Heavenly Body magic Jellal uses, and a handful of casting spells," Lucy asked the older girl, racking her brain to see if that was all she knew.

"As far as most people know, that's all there is to it," Mavis said, jumping off the desk and then scanning through the bookcase until her eyes landed on what she was looking for. Raising a hand, two books flew off the shelf, one a deep blue, the other a dark green, and landed in her hands. "But what they don't know is that Celestial Magics are older than Dragon Slaying by several centuries, and you've seen first hand how varied that type of magic is,"

"Um, yeah, but isn't Dragon Slaying an art that goes back more than four-hundred years? I know that reading the celestial bodies of stars and planets dates back to before the time of Fiore, but that doesn't have much to do with the magic..."

Lucy yelped as Mavis dropped the two books on Lucy's lap, and in her frantic squirming to not drop either, noticing that the books were much larger than she originally thought they were. "Look at the green one first," Mavis instructed.

Lucy obliged, shifting the blue one so that the green book was now the one on top. She blinked, staring at the title -

**The Theory of Magic's Origins: Emotion, Nature, and Celestial Magics.**

**Volume One - The Gypsy Mages.**

_That wasn't...was it? I've misread it, that's...no, I saw it correctly...but that would mean..._ The blonde's thoughts swirled.

"Gypsy...Mages? Weren't those..." Lucy muttered, terminating her internal monologue, her mind flying back through the years, to the bed time stories her mother used to tell her. They were always fascinating; brave heroes fighting terrible foes to save the day, clever wizards using their abilities to save their villages from calamity, and fearless leaders who lead their people with strong yet fair hands as they moved from place to place...

When she, like any other child, asked her mother, all those years ago, if the people from the stories were real, she could recall vividly what Layla had told her.

* * *

 

_"Hey, mama?" Wide brown eyes looked up into an older pair of the exact same color. It was something Lucy always loved; how much she resembled her mother._

_"Yes, Lucy?" Layla responded, leaning over her daughter's bed to pull the thick pink comforter up to her little chin. Much to the older Heartphilia's amusement, the little girl hesitated, fidgeting under the blanket before finally asking her question._

_"Are...are the people in the story - are the people real, Mama?"_

_Layla blinked, taken back as though she hadn't suspected her daughter to ask that question, and for a brief moment Lucy thought her mother was going to call her silly. But that thought melted as she watched a bright smile overtake the woman's face._

_Layla leaned closer to her daughter as she brushed the flaxen bangs out of her child's face. "Yes Lucy, yes; they were once real, but that was a long time ago...and most people have forgotten about them by now,"_

_"Like Opi- Off-y..." Little Lucy huffed in annoyance, her six-year-old mouth unable to mould the word she wanted to correctly._

_Layla chuckled, knowing what her daughter meant anyway. "Ophiuchus, dear?" She suggested, and watched the annoyed look melt off of Lucy's face._

_"Yeah! Him! The Snake-Bearer star-guy!" She gleefully said, having a small celebration for getting it right, before a look of curiosity similar to the one she had earlier dominated her face. "Why did they forget them, Mama? Off-y-uk-is and the story-people?"_

_Layla giggled at her daughter's antics. "Well, a lot of people didn't exactly like what Ophiuchus stood for, so they took him out of the Zodiacs, and anyone who was seen with his Gate key was believed to bring about a great dishonor or bad luck, so he just kind of faded away from memory," Layla stated sadly, still playing with her daughter's soft hair as she continued. "And those 'story-people' had a name, Lucy, one you'll need to know,"_

_"Why is that, Mama?"_

_Layla smiled, but Lucy wasn't sure why it was so wistful all of a sudden. "While most people have forgotten about them, my family has had a special connection with your 'story-people' for a long time. Meaning so do you, missy!" Lucy giggled at her mother's sudden tickle-attack, trying to fend her off for several minutes until She and Layla regained their composure._

_"What kind of connection do we have with them, Mama?" Lucy asked, her eyes dropping as she finally started falling asleep, the tickle fight taking away most of the energy that had been keeping her awake._

_"The same bond you and I have, Lucy - the bond of blood, the bond of family," Layla said, petting the top of the child's head as she watcher her quickly slipping into sleep._

_"Does...that mean, daddy, too? What's...their name, Mama?" Lucy blinked, her last question cutting off with a yawn making her harder to understand._

_Layla smiled, continuing to just watch over her daughter, feeling contentedness settle over her. "Through his parents, no. But through you, yes, that does make him their family, too,"_

_Lucy nodded, almost asleep when her mother got around to answering her other question, but she really wanted to know the answer, so she had strained her ears to hear the faint whisper said to her as her mother got up to leave._

_"For your other question...Gypsy-Mages, Lucy. Remember them, because it's who we are, you and I. Now, sweet dreams, dear," she felt a soft touch on her forehead, before the sound of footsteps continued. "I'll see you in the morning-bright."_

* * *

 

Lucy felt her eyes watering at the recollection of her mother and the bonding that memory retold, but she refused to simply let herself cry again. She furiously pushed the salty water out of her eyes, not letting them linger for a second longer than they already had; she had cried way to much already today, and if she really wanted to get stronger, it had to stop.

Oddly enough, her brain suddenly supplied her with the image of Yukino at the Grand Magic Games, summoning the spirit from the cursed gate key. It brought a sardonic smile on her face, as she compared herself to the other Celestial Mage of the GMG.

Yukino had had some pretty rotten luck that day, getting kicked out of her family for losing a cheep fighting match, but it was her former master who ended up getting it worse, later losing both the Game and his guild. Lucy though was not getting kicked out; she was leaving, and it was her nakama that would be on the receiving end of misery soon, with her master getting a stronger Mage out of the deal.

So if that legend her mother had once told her was true, why shouldn't she believe she was Gypsy?

Only... Ophiuchus aside, Lucy hadn't been able to find anything on Gypsy Mages, no matter where she looked or who she asked. Not a single thing, zip, zero, and nada. It didn't help that after her mother died, she had just completely given up the search, convinced that it was something has been told just to get her to sleep.

So, if what Mavis had just dropped in her lap (literally) was real...

"Master...Mavis," Lucy asked, her bangs blocking her eyes from the two she had gotten the attention of. "This book...is it accurate?"

Mavis looked surprised, eyebrows raised like she wasn't quite sure why that had been asked. Makarov looked much the same. "Yes, it should be, as it was part of my personal collection before I died, and Precht turned most of my old books into a part of the master's collection, with some others going into the guild library. Why do want to know?"

"...just something that Mama told me a long time ago," Lucy said, running her fingers over the smooth, exposed page sides, taking in that this was real and her mom hadn't just spun her a yarn. It was only because her eyes had never left the book since she had seen its title, but towards the last few pages, Lucy swore that the book was glowing. The longer she stared at it, actually, the more certain she was that she needed to open the book to exactly that page.

Watching the blonde hurriedly moving through the book for what seemed to be no good reason, Makarov grew concerned. "Mama? Child, hasn't your mother been gone for nearly fourteen years?"

Lucy flinched, but didn't stop her hands as they flipped through dozens of pages at a time. "Not even a week after I turned ten."

"Then how-” Makarov was cut off, as Lucy finally reached the glowing page, and something happened.

The room exploded into a golden light, temporarily blinding the office's three occupants before receding. The three Mages were left to stare in wonder at the magic runes scrolling up and out of the opened book, reminding Lucy of Fried's magic, and at the same time Hibiki's Archiving abilities.

"This is..." Mavis breathed, reaching out on instinct to examine the scrolling letters, suddenly jerking her hand back as they shocked her. Cradling her limb, she looked on resolutely at the magic in front of her. "Those are names,"

"Names?" Makarov echoed, moving behind Lucy to get a better look at the words that were still flowing from the book, only instead of being completed they now looked to be configuring themselves from scratch. "You're right, First. But why would this happen after Lucy opened the book?"

Mavis watched the unknown spell for a few moments, before she finally noticed the pattern; the runes at the top of the list, as she figured it was, never changed, indicating it as a title of some sort. And as for the list itself, the characters in the beginning of each row remained the same, and were always followed by a handful of symbols from previous row only...

Suddenly, it clicked. She turned her head to Lucy, looking at the teen with eyes resembling those of an owl.

"I know what this is, and why it reacted to you, Lucy,"

"What...is it," Lucy asked, tearing her eyes away from the golden letters that had held her gaze since shooting out from the book on her lap. She could hardly help it; they were beautiful to look at, and Lucy felt oddly connected to them, even though she wasn't an expert in reading runic letters like Levy or Fried.

"Your ancestry," Mavis stated, looking at the opened book. "Or more specifically, the _female_ ancestry on your mother's side,"

Lucy breathed in sharply, different emotions flashing across her eyes as she looked at the still-scrolling list of names with a new perspective. She felt a small smile form at her lips. "This is a line of Gypsy Mages, isn't it Mavis?"

Makarov's eyes widened when the first nodded, eyeing the blonde as though mentally drawing new connections. "Yes, it is, and as I'm pretty sure that as soon as your magic came into contact with the previously unknown type of spell that I _know_ was stored in that book as an example, the records stored in it updated, scanning your genetics and comparing them to the last entry."

It was silent for a few moments, the three wizards just watching as the ancestry slowly came to a halt, and sure enough, as confirmed by the first master, read Leading Mage of the tribe, Daughter of Layla Heartphilia - Lucy.

Lucy quirked an eyebrow at what her supposed title read. "I'm the Leading Mage of a tribe?" She scoffed, ignoring the serious looks on her masters' faces. "There aren't any tribes like this around anymore, and even if there were, I don't _have_ the strength to be its 'Leading Mage'."

"Which is exactly why you're going to train until the next Grand Magic Games," Makarov said, and Lucy noted that this was the first time anyone had said anything about how long she would be leaving for.

"Why that long, master? Our guild might not think very much, but that seems a bit extreme for them simply organizing their thoughts," Lucy stated in slight disbelief, looking at Mavis for back up.

"Oh, it is," the little girl said, and Lucy felt the beginnings of a gloat for, until Mavis continued. "But now we know you need to get a hold on the Gypsy nature of your magic, and it has to be done immediately,"

"... I'm a bit afraid to ask, but why?"

"How about this? Your mother died at twenty-nine because she hadn't known your exact lineage as the leader of your tribe's magic, and her magic's other nature had been slowly eating away at her health. She was a Celestial Wizard until the age of sixteen, three years before she had you, until she reached the point where her control over magic was shot to where she couldn't summon _anything_ anymore," Mavis looked in Lucy's ever widening eyes, and the blonde Spirit Summoner felt worse with every word out of her mouth.

Noticing how uncomfortable she was making one of her guild members, Mavis sighed, easing up on the tension she herself had unintentionally created throughout the room. "I'm sorry, but I wanted you to know the situation you are in. I didn't mean to rant at you,"

Lucy relaxed, closing the opened book on her lap as she noticed it had been opened for too long and casting eerie lighting and shadows on people's faces and around the room. "It fine, but I'm already seventeen, turning eighteen soon. If what happened to my mother is going to happen to me, why hasn't it already?"

At this Mavis smiled. "It would seem that your magic's consistency is better than your mother's, and you've been able to successfully hold off the effects until now. But..."

"If you don't start training now, it will lead to problems further on, no doubt," Makarov finished for her, shuffling against the papers in his hands against the desk until they were in an even pile. "And, speaking of your training...all the documents are signed, waiting to be sent to the council, and I just transported the letter, so now there is only one more thing left to do. Let me see your right hand, child,"

Lucy did as instructed, nervous anticipation in her gut as she knew what was coming; guild regulations decreed it, after all. Still, she couldn't help but blurt her out thoughts as she watched her guild mark be engulfed in a soft glow. "How long will it be gone for?"

Makarov smiled, but it was the sad sort of upward tilt both of them had seen too many times. He was saying goodbye to his child, after all. "Until a few days before the next Grand Magic Games. Or, if you finish your training more than a month early, and you feel indescribably homesick, it will show up sooner."

The second option sounded much more desirable to Lucy, and she silently swore to herself that she would put all her effort into training to make it happen. Her friends would be so worried about her by that point, she didn't want to imagine what it would be like.

"Now that all that's settled, all you have to do is pack your things and tell your Land Lady to put your apartment on hold!" Mavis chirped, doing her best to lighten the mood. "It would be a good idea to leave a letter with her as well, since I'm sure they'll make a huge racket looking for you later,"

Lucy chuckled morosely, already picturing Natsu's face as he did just that. "Good idea. I need an apartment to come back to, after all,"

Master and Mavis laughed, and Lucy took her hand back, staring at the spot on the back of her hand that used to be mostly covered by pink.

_Soon_. She swore to herself, fists clenching as she later exited the master's office, and a few minutes later, the guild hall itself, staring up at the large, bold Fairy Tail sign placed just above the entryway, a frozen February breeze ruffling her jacket and twisting her hair. _As soon as possible, I will be back here. Back home..._


	2. A Star's quandry

**Chp. 2**

* * *

**_A star's quandary._ **

* * *

 

Lucy placed her hands on her hips, forcing her legs to stand straight while she leaned and twisted her spine back into place from the several stupidly long train rides she'd had to take from Magnolia to Crocus.

The only good thing that came with such a voyage was that she managed to read the green book (which had nothing on magic at all, only going into detail about Fiore's history and some guesses at who Gypsy Mages were), and half of the blue one, which happened to be the continuation, and equally as slow.

It was nice keeping her mind occupied though, and off the twisting roller coaster her stomach was turning itself into each second she moved further away from Magnolia. She had honestly thought she would've thrown up had it not been for her ability to focus on tasks at hand.

It had been surprisingly easy to get on the first train, the one she went on directly after telling her land lady where she would be going for the next year-and-a-half, and followed Makarov's advise on leaving a simple letter for her friends (and one specifically for Natsu...), as well as some money for when they undoubtedly broke something.

Before doing that though, packing had turned out to be somewhat interesting. Saying she had a lot of clothes would be an understatement; one of her hobbies was shopping, meaning she of course had lots of items, but common sense said she couldn't take everything with her.

Of course, she had packed for trips before, but the longest mission she had ever been on (that she hadn't been able to stay in a hotel for) was just over two weeks, and unless she enchanted her suitcase, she didn't have anything that would hold all the things she would be taking.

So not knowing what to do, she had summoned Virgo, hoping to at least get started on the long task ahead of them. After the hour it took for them to get everything organized and ready to pack (the maid spirit made menial tasks like that the easiest thing in the world), Lucy had nearly crushed the spirit with a hug after Virgo offered to take her belongings to the Spirit Realm until they reached their destination.

And now, after five hours on the first train, three hours on the second, and four and a half on the third and final, she was standing in the train station's landing in the capital, Crocus, the piece of paper with directions Mavis had given her in hand.

She looked around, noting the mid-morning rush of travelers, most of whom looked as bedraggled as she felt. She had left the guild at around seven at night yesterday, meaning now, at nine-thirty in the morning, she had been up for somewhere around twenty four hours - she'd been too nervous to properly sleep on the trains, not to mention they weren't exactly built for taking naps on.

This was such a good way to start a year of training, bags under her eyes and her feet shuffling against the ground as she walked around a city laden with half-ruined buildings and loud construction noises.

She could feel the migraine coming coming on already...she really hoped she got to wherever Mavis had written down soon.

"Make a left here...down this alleyway until you find an exit to the right, three buildings forward...follow the canal until it ends, and I should...be...there..." Lucy looked up from her paper, feeling her eye twitch and her arm drop as deadweight, dangling at her side as she stared incredulously at the building in front of her. She was way to tired for this. "The palace!? How in your name did this happen, Mavis!? Master!?"

She continued her triad in front of the grand building for two minutes, until an uneasy looking palace guard decided to do his job and walked up to her.

"Eto, um, miss?" He flinched, having just gotten a taste of the killing intent only three people were capable of putting off; Mirajane, Erza, and her. But, unfortunately for Lucy, this guard did not run away screaming like she wanted. Instead, he rushed through the rest of his inquisition. "W-what is your business at the palace!"

Lucy sighed, letting go of most of her irritation, much to the man's immediate relief, and instead dug through the bag at her side for the one form master Makarov had handed her before she left; an official guild notice that the Mage whose name was on it had full support of the guild. In this case, Lucy and Fairy Tail.

The guard snapped to attention upon seeing the slip, motioning for several other of his coworkers nearby to open the gate for her, and informing Lucy that he was going to personally send word to the King of her arrival.

After waiting for a few minutes until her guard came back, Lucy realized that it might take a while. So instead of standing outside the already opened gates like a gaping fool, she passed into the castle's domain. Looking around the palace lawn, Lucy spotted what she was looking for; a bench where she could sit and read while she waited.

Taking out her blue book, Lucy rubbed her shoulder in delight. Whoever first said bookworms were weak had obviously never met one as hard core as Levy or Lucy.

Turning over the cover, the blonde effortlessly flipped to the page she had marked with a pink slip of cloth, continuing where she left off with the book explaining - finally - how Gypsy Mages developed and used magic.

It was a rather complex series of events involving, from what Lucy could tell, highly stressful situations where the overpoweringly strong emotions of a person gave birth to - back then - phenomenal events and/or abilities that turned the balance of power.

After such events, the theory stated that the people - after they snapped out of their shock - were strongly reminded of the unexplained things they saw every day in the natural world, ranging from strange mushrooms that grew out of your head if you ate them (to which, Lucy and her team - ex-team had some experience with), to the multitude of abilities that dragons utilized.

It started a whole now era in the use of magic, dozens of more abilities appearing everyday it seemed, until they made yet another connection, only this time to the stars.

This was the part Lucy was looking forward to reading about - the part that might give her hints about how to get control over the Gypsy nature of her magic, since Celestial magic was her element.

Speaking of elements, that reminded her of the water magic she gained by breaking Aquarius's gate key. Maybe it was still a form of Celestial magic? It wasn't originally her magic after all, and she wasn't naturally attuned to water magic, meaning she had no business using it and would have been unable to do so in the first place unless it was a form of Celestial magics...

Lucy shook her head, clearing the partially irrelevant thought from her head. If it was a part of her Celestial magic, than she could apply whatever training she would be doing later to it as well. But first she had to keep reading...

Ok, right, she was at the part where her ancestors started relating things to celestial bodies and constellation?

The book stated that upon noticing the connection the stars had how people felt and what was going on in the world around them, they tried to see if they could harness their unique abilities, leading to the creation of the Twelve Golden Gates (Lucy flinched, feeling bad for her choice, but not regretting it in the slightest), and magics that harnessed the power of the night sky through both action and incantation.

Lucy spent the next ten minutes reading, rereading, and rereading again that chapter and the next two, bitter annoyance building up on top of an exhausted state of mind. She grit her teeth, her murderous intent flaring out once again.

There was nothing on how use the Gypsy part of her magic at all! The only thing that was even remotely helpful was when the stupid book mentioned in passing about the Gypsy Mages using their culture to somehow control the magical energy in and around them.

Lucy slammed the book closed, using it to hit her forehead as a sudden realization struck her. How was she supposed to learn about her Gypsy nature if the only people who had ever used it were long since dead? The book had nothing on the 'how's or 'why's, only talking about a theoretical 'what' that Lucy was only going to believe because it was the only thing she had to got off of, and her first guild master had said it was accurate.

She sighed. Maybe Capricorn would know? He was one of her mother' something trusted spirits, after all, and he seemed to know her magic inside and out...

Hearing the slowly approaching crunch of footsteps on the gravel path leading to and from the palace, Lucy lowered book, eyes and head turning towards the sound. A second later, skull met leather binding for a second time.

Didn't they have butlers and maids to do this kind of stuff for them? Lucy had been somewhat hoping to put off meeting the royal father-daughter duo until later during her stay at their palace (growing up in a mansion with other noble's coming and going for business negotiations all the time, Lucy knew exactly how possible it was for something like that to happen) because the last time Fairy Tail had met the king...

"I hope you're friend's enjoying the crown he took-kabo!" The king cried, protectively holding the new piece of headwear closer to his cranium, eyes darting around their surroundings, as though waiting for Natsu to pop out and take it from him again.

The princess rolled her eyes at her father's actions, and Lucy had to say she looked very different from the last two times she saw her, but then again, both times they were either in life and death peril, or at a formal reception. Either way, quite memorable, but not how she normally looked.

Lucy laughed, a sound that was both tired and nervous. "You don't have to worry, sir; Natsu isn't with me, and he won't be coming later, either."

The king nodded, letting go of his new crown as he got a look at the book she was reading. "Already getting a start on the reading part of your training-kabo? I thought we would start with my entertaining training method-kabo,"

Lucy scratched the back of her head, not sure how to respond to that. "Er...sorry?"

Hisui sighed, pinning both Lucy and her father a deadpan look. "Don't encourage him, please; even if you are one of his subjects, if you ever hear him tell you to join an 'entertaining' anything, ignore him,"

Lucy smiled as the king gave his heir a look that was both shocked and comically-hurt, which was ignored. "I'll see, but it seems like I might have to since you guys appear to be in charge of my training,"

The mood in the air sifted towards the more serious side as both the king and princess straightened. Hisui narrowed her eyes at the book Lucy was holding, and the blonde figured she was trying to see what it was. "That's correct, we are going to be the ones directing your training, since we still owe you personally for stoping the Eclispse project,"

Lucy felt a blush come over her face at the mention of her and her companion's actions during that time. "It wasn't much, really; all the Dragon Slayers did more than Yukino and I..."

Hisui shook her head and the Celestial mage's modesty. "Whatever you say, but we're not going to get anything done if we just stay out here and chat all day. Me and Papa will show you to your room, and I'd say we would have someone help you unpack, but you don't seem to have any luggage..."

Lucy smirked, patting the keys on her belt as she stood up from her temporary seat, and headed towards the awaiting castle. "I have that all settled, so don't worry about that,"

"Good-kabo, but know that as soon as you're done, you're starting my training-kabo!" And with that last declaration, the king marched away in the opposite direction the two girls were going, leaving them in the spacious castle entry way alone.

Hisui sighed fondly, lightly taking Lucy by her elbow and directing her towards the sloping stair case. "Your quarters are upstairs, and just so you know, you'll be in the same wing as my father and I,"

Lucy was a bit surprised that the royal family of all people were letting her, a Mage they had only met three times, maximum, stay so close to them. "Um, Hisui-san, if you don't mind me asking, why are the members of the royal family letting me stay so close by, and going as far to help me train, even if you did owe my guild,"

The green haired girl gave Lucy a thoughtful look. "Well, for starters, as a member of a guild in Fiore, it is unofficially your job to serve the royal family and obey the council, the former of which you demonstrated during the time after the Grand Magic Games," Hisui explained, pausing as they were maneuvered around by a pair of maids, cheery 'hellos' and 'good day, princess' passing between both parties.

"Secondly, it was only due to you and Yukino-san closing the gate when you did that we're even here speaking today," Hisui continued, and Lucy didn't think she was going to let that favor she (supposedly) owed the blonde go anytime soon. "Adding to that, we have the largest Library in Fiore, with more access to that," she pointed to the book Lucy still had in her hand. "Than anywhere else,"

It clicked. "So the reason I couldn't find anything on Gypsy Mages earlier was because all the records were relocated to the palace?"

Hisui nodded. "Yeah, because if people found an 'easy' way to the original magic, it would be chaos. Not to mention, you need to be a direct descendant of the Leading Mage for the tribe to get most of the spells to work in the first place, and that's without adding the cultural base to it that makes the magic easier to use,"

Lucy looked at the book, then back to the princess, one slender eyebrows raised. "You seem to know a lot about this stuff; these books have only just touched on the possibility of the Gypsy culture adding to the outcome of the magic,"

Hisui snorted, then quickly smacked a hand over her mouth, eyes wide as she looked at Lucy. "Please don't tell anyone I just snorted; it's considered rude for the princess to do..."

Lucy made a zipping motion with her fingers over her lips, a knowing twinkle in her eyes as she remembered the stiff manners and customs of the rich and wealthy. Now that was something she had no reservations about leaving.

The royal jade smiled in relief, answering Lucy's question. "Right, so yeah, I've studied this stuff for most of my life, because my mother came from the non-magic wielding part of the tribe. While I can't cast any spells, and you not being able to use very many, we'll probably be more focused on expanding your knowledge on what magic is what and how to counter them,"

Lucy scrunched up her eye brows, taking a second to pick apart and digest what the princess had just said, before giggling, which almost slowly evolved into belly-laughter. Hisui looked at her over her shoulder, confused. "Sorry, but... I would have thought Master Makarov had told you in his letter, since he sent it after that..."

The princess raised an eyebrow. "Told me what? After that what?"

Shaking her head, Lucy thought she should just show the princess instead of explaining it. Holding out the blue book for Hisui to hold, Lucy maneuvered around her bag for its prequel. "I'll show you as soon as I find that book...ah! There it is,"

Flipping the book over, Lucy opened it the wrong way, having found it was after than going through the whole book for a single page towards the back. Finding the sought after page, Lucy gently placed over the obviously runic language that looked somewhat out of place, and pumped a small amount of magic into it.

Lucy had tested this out during her horrendously long train-riding marathon, when she had run out of patience for the book's educational content and needed something to do. Her efforts proved themselves fruitful, as the glowing golden list shot out of the pages, automatically going to her name at the very bottom.

Hisui looked at it, impressed, but not knowing what significance it held, not the reason the Celestial Mage had for showing it to her.

Lucy, seeing this, focused more magic into her hand, moving it over the runes as they now changed to the standard written language of Fiore. Hisui, now being able to what was in front of her, sucked in a sharp breath, taking a startled step backwards.

"T-that...s-so, you are..."

"If you're trying to say that I'm going to be able to learn those spells you mentioned earlier, than yes, yes I am," Lucy said, a bit smug at the reaction she got out of the green haired girl, closing the book, thereby canceling the active spell, and put away both books back into her bag.

Hisui blinked, looking like she was making several mental adjustments. "I'm going to have to rethink your training, now,"

"Sorry, but hey; speaking of training, you never did tell me why you and your father agreed to do it. Train me, I mean,"

Hisui didn't respond right away, most likely gathering her thoughts, so the girls just continued walking (how big was this castle, anyway?) while Lucy waited for a response. "Most of my reasons for helping you train probably have to do with my friendship with your late father, and, once again, earn your forgiveness for letting lose the Eclipse project,"

Lucy nodded, not hurt in the slightest that the princesses loyalties lied with her father, but she did have to resist groaning when Hisui mentioned Eclipse. She put on a strained smile. "I keep telling you, that's not necessary; I didn't do much in the first place, and you only though what you were doing was best for your people,"

Lucy watched as a soft smile graced the face of the other girl, and she was glad to know that she had helped ease the guilt the royal jade had no doubt put herself into. In the companionable silence that followed, Hisui continued leading Lucy to her room in the palace, passing by both maids and butlers as they made their rounds, always giving both girls a friendly welcome.

Suddenly, Hisui stopped walking in front of a large oak door, and the action was so unexpected that Lucy nearly crashed into her. Hisui smirked in amusement. "This is your room then, Lucy-san. If you need anything, I, am in the room right across the hall,"

"Um...ok?" Lucy sweatdropped. This went back to what she had been saying earlier; the royal family's blind trust in her, while highly flattering, was a little unnerving.

Waving to her new hall-mate, Hisui turned around, heading into her own room, and Lucy figured she should get settled so that she could take a nap; while her conversation with the princess had kept her alert and awake, she was still so tired she might just crash while setting her bed.

Pushing past the thick slice of wood, Lucy did a quick once-over of the space where she' debt living for the next year. It was spacious, about the size of her apartment back home, wallpaper the color of fresh-cut pink roses, which she had to admit contrasted nicely with the dark wood furniture and deep red carpet.

Walking into the small seating area placed at the front of the room, Lucy placed her carrying bag down on the low set coffee table. After rolling back her shoulders to get the kinks out, she grabbed a particular gate key.

"Virgo!" She shouted, and a split second later the Celestial maid made her appearance in a cloud of pink smoke, all of her owner's belongings stacked behind her.

"Is it punishment time, hime?" She asked.

"No, it's not!" Lucy immediately yelled, having pre-conditioned her response long ago. "Do you think you could help me get things set up, though?"

The pink haired girl gave a stout nod. "Yes, hime,"

If Lucy had thought that packing the first time had gone fast, she had turned her back for ten minutes to make the bed (which, thankfully she did not take an unexpected nap on), only to turn around and see that the Spirit had already placed her books and nicknacks on all the shelves, and was currently in the process of color coordinating her closest and dresser.

The blonde smiled. She had absolutely no idea what she's do without her spirits, period. "Thanks for your help, Virgo. You can go back when you finish,"

The usually stoic maid's lips tilted ever so slightly at the corners, but Lucy saw it anyway. The spirit bowed. "Yes, hime."

Said 'princess' shook her head. The spirit would never stop calling her that, no matter what she tried, or how much time passed between them. Walking back over to where she'd put down her bag, Lucy moved through it until she found what she needed.

Sitting down on the small sofa that sat across the table from it's twin, Lucy placed the majority of the letters down next to her, the one she believed was from Aquarius in her hands already.

The young Gypsy didn't know how much time had passed before Hisui knocked on her door for lunch, her attention so solely focused on the cards that each one of her spirits had taken the time to write her, even if Aquarius's had been a harsh reminder of her current love life, punctuated with a demand she at least use the water magic brought about from breaking the key. But hey, that was the mermaid spirit for you.

"So did you get everything squared away?" The royal jade asked, once again walking a little bit ahead of Lucy as she lead the blonde to the dining area where they would be served. The king would not be joining them, Lucy had been told, since he had other duties to attend to at the moment.

"Hmm, yeah I did, but I was so wrapped up in reading the cards my spirits got me I couldn't take a nap," Lucy stated, trying to stifle a yawn.

"That's nice, that your spirits send you cards," Hisui said.

Lucy chuckled lightly. "Yeah, but they were worried. It's not like spirits usually send their user cards, but I guess they consider me a friend."

"Why were they worried for you?" Hisui wondered aloud, then quickly scrambled for more words as the blonde sadly averted her gaze. "Ah! You don't have to answer that I'd you don't want to, Lucy-san,"

Lucy smiled a little. "It's fine, Hisui-san. But I think it may be a story for another time. So what part of my training are you in charge of?"

Glad for a change in subject, the princess spoke with vigor. "Well, as you can figure, Papa is going to be in charge of one aspect of your physical training, mainly fighting. And if I know him, he'll make it as entertaining for himself to watch as possible, so you have your work to cut out for you because he loves fighting,"

Lucy giggled, her mind instantly bringing up a picture of her favorite Dragon Slayer and her battle-happy guild. "That leaves what part of my training to you?"

"I have your book study, and the other part of your physical training which, since we know you can actually use the spell theories I was going to teach you from the books, you're going to learn how to cast them."

"And that means...?" Lucy said, only remembering that casting Gypsy spell casting had something to do with the culture.

"You're going to learn how to street-dance, basically, while wearing traditional Gypsy clothes," Hisui winked, taking amusement from her companion's mortified look, but she wanted to push it one step further. "And I'm sure that your boyfriend will love to see this later when you get back to Fairy Tail,"

Oh, that did it all right. The blonde exploded into furious stutters, her face a glowing red and arms windmilling around her as she stared at the princess in both shock and embarrassment. "H-how, did you know!?"

Hisui smirked. "You have the look of a girl pining over a boy. So, I want to know who. Is he in your guild? Is he from another guild you know? Is he a wizard?"

Lucy let out a helpless laugh. She wasn't at all insulted by her companion's nosiness with her love life; in fact, she understood the craving to act like a girl her own age, worrying about things like boys and shopping instead of one day taking over the Konzern/country, like the heiresses they were/are. And for all Makarov and Mavis had been there for her, they wouldn't quite be able to wrap their heads around that of a teenaged girls'.

"Yes, he's in my guild, so of course he'd be a Mage...a rather powerful one at that..." The blonde trailed off, remembering all the times she had just watched Natsu take down a villain and thought just that.

Hisui looked at her, a calculating look in her eyes. "Powerful, huh? Did he participate in the Games?"

Lucy nodded. "Uh-huh,"

Thinking back to what she had seen of the matches, Hisui knew all the male Fairy Tail Mages to participate in the games were extremely strong. The hint didn't help much, so she tried thinking about the actions Lucy's male guild members had taken where she was involved. Two came to mind.

"Is your boyfriend Grey Fullbuster, or Natsu Dragneel by any chance?" The royal jade asked, noticing the blonde next to her blush harder at the second name. Bingo...she thought. "You're dating Natsu Dragneel, 'The Salamander', Fire Dragon Slay-”

"Shh!" Lucy hissed, clamping one hand over Hisui's mouth as she furtively darted her eyes around the hallway they were in, trying to see if anyone besides her had heard the outburst. She sighed in relief, removing her hand. "We're not dating, firstly. Secondly, even if he did know about how I felt, he has someone else for him already,"

The princess studied the sad expression on the blonde for the next few moments as they made their way down the hall. Then, she thought of something. "He's part of the reason you left to train, isn't it?"

Lucy but her lip, but nodded nonetheless. Maybe in the next few days, or in the next coming weeks she would tell the princess about her plight; but for now, she really just didn't want to talk about it again. Just because she had organized her thoughts and feelings over the event didn't mean she was willing to preach it to the world, and no matter what she and Hisui and been through during the Eclipse Gate incident, she had hardly spoken to the girl for more than and hour, tops.

Noticing that the blonde was still edgy of the subject, Hisui let it drop. Walking in silence, the only time either spoke before reaching the dining area was when Lucy had a question, Hisui felt the need to point out something with historical importance.

Later, after they had been fed and watered (Lucy noted that the food was just as good as the last time she had eaten at the palace), Hisui walked her back to her room so that she might change into something for her first physical training session, stating that she would help Lucy around the castle for the first few days until she got it down herself.

Having changed from her mini skirt and tank top into a pair of Heart Kruez workout shorts and tee, Lucy tugged her hair into a pony tail. She did a mental once over, making sure she had everything ready to go.

Maybe it was because she had never planned to train this seriously for this long in her life, but she felt that the moment she took a step out the door, there wouldn't be any going back. True, she probably have felt that way when Makarov had told her to hold out her hand, or when she had boarded the train back in Magnolia, but for some reason, when she was already dozens of miles from home, did she feel like something was going to happen that would change her.

Key belt?

Check.

Actual Gate Keys?

Check again.

Sneakers and active wear?

Check, and check.

Lucy sighed, realizing that she was stalling. She could go on with this all day, and that wouldn't get her anywhere. Smacking her cheeks sharply, Lucy let the sharp sting clear her thoughts and refocus her attention.

It was too late for her to go back, and here she was, with the royal family of all the people in Fiore being the ones to help her train, with her dithering wasting their valuable time. She was better than that, and she had already showed that when she had walked out of her family twelve hours ago.

"Yosh," the blonde said, her hands fisting on either side of her broad hips, a fire in her eyes that hadn't been their a second ago. She walked towards the door, her mind briefly flickering to the faces of her friends, lingering longest on Natsu's, before she smiled. "I wonder when they'll come looking for me..."


End file.
